Internal security is the act of keeping peace within the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political bo ...

s of a

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...

or other self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. Responsibility for internal security may range from

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

to paramilitary forces, and in exceptional circumstances, the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

itself.

Threats to internal security

Threats to the general peace may range from low-level

civil order Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

, large scale

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...

, or even an armed

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...

. Threats to internal security may be directed at either the state's citizens, or the organs and infrastructure of the state itself, and may range from petty

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

, serious

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally tho ...

, political or industrial unrest, or even domestic

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. Foreign powers may also act as a threat to internal security, by either committing or sponsoring terrorism or

rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

, without actually declaring war. Governmental responsibility for internal security will generally rest with an interior ministry, as opposed to a defence ministry. Depending on the state, a state's internal security will be maintained by either the ordinary

or more militarised security forces (known as

Gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

or, literally, the Internal Troops.). Other specialized internal security agencies may exist to augment these main forces, such as border guards, special police units, or aspects of the state's intelligence agencies. In some states, internal security may be the primary responsibility of a secret police force. The level of authorized force used by agencies and forces responsible for maintaining internal security might range from unarmed

to fully armed paramilitary organizations, or employ some level of less-lethal weaponry in between. For violent situations, internal security forces may contain some element of military type equipment such as non-military armored vehicles.

Justice aspects

Depending on the organization of the state, internal security forces may have

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Ju ...

on national or federal levels. As the concept of internal security refers to the entity of the state and its citizens, persons who are threats to internal security may be designated as an enemy of the state or enemy of the people. Persons detained by internal security forces may either be dealt with by the normal

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

system, or for more serious crimes against internal security such as

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, they may face special measures such as secret trials. In times of extreme unrest, internal security actions may include measures such as internment (detention without trial).

Relationship with the military

Depending on the nature of the specific state's

form of government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

, enforcing internal security will generally not be carried out by a country's

forces, whose primary role is external defense, except in times of extreme unrest or other

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

, short of

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

. Often, military involvement in internal security is restricted to authorized military aid to the civil power as part of the principle of civilian control of the military. Military special forces units may in some cases be put under the temporary command of civilian powers, for special internal security situations such as counter terrorism operations.

External links

Meanings of Internal security
at insightsonindia.com {{Authority control Government Gendarmerie Law enforcement Paramilitary

Threats to internal security

Justice aspects

Relationship with the military

See also

External links